The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Publication Date:  September 30, 2008
Publisher:  HarperCollins
Pages:  312  
Series:  Stand Alone
Genre:  Fantasy
Synopsis:  After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family...

Review:  Never could I have chosen a better book to begin the year with than The Graveyard Book.  That is all.

Neil Gaiman, what a clever storyteller.  He captures magic in the form of words and draws the reader into his richly crafted worlds.  There is just something to the way he approaches a sentence, or a turn of the phrase, that I cannot get nearly enough of.

If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.

Now, imagine being raised in a graveyard.  This little world (although, not so little) comes alive with its various dead inhabitants and one little boy by the name of Nobody. You are allowed glimpses in fantastical realities, from ghouls to Sleers, and how I wish I could linger just a little longer.  But that's the thing about Gaiman's style--he lets the story speak for itself rather than over-explaining it.  He supplies you with the paint and your mind draws up the picture.

As there always are, faults: the villains are left on vague terms, with too little information to create a full image of their motivations and existence.  However, that in no way detracts from their sly, ambiguous nature, which is frankly somewhat disturbing.  One other issue is a matter of the plot:  some scenes, while wholly enjoyable and whimsical, are not entirely relevant to furthering the novel.

There was a smile dancing on his lips, although it was a wary smile, for the world is a bigger place than a little graveyard on a hill.

Nobody (Bod) Owens was an orphan adopted by ghosts.  He is observant, has a hunger for knowledge and an undying loyalty to his home and its haunts.  As he grows, he is more and more tempted by the outside world.  

The metaphor of his curiosity is to represent the wonder we all feel, and sometimes lose, about the world around us as we grow, and, at least in my case, infused a little of the awe back into my mind.

You're alive, Bod. That means you have infinite potential. You can do anything, make anything, dream anything. If you can change the world, the world will change.

Silas is Bod's guardian, who may or may not be a vampire.  He cuts a strong but enigmatic figure, and all I can say is that I liked him very much.  Scarlett, a found friend and living human, was a little bit of a disappointment, but added color to the gray of the graves.  Miss Lupescu and Lizza are both wry and strong characters who add, well, character to the novel. 

The Graveyard Book is page after page of captivating sad yet beautiful adventures that touches your heart and your mind.  If I could live it all again for the first time, I would.